This is volume 12 of
Hans Helmut Tillmanns’ Bach Organ Works
set, and as such probably needs no extra
recommendation to those already in possession
of the other eleven discs.

The discovery of Johann
Gottfried Neumeister’s copies of previously
unknown works by Bach at Yale University
in 1985 put paid to a few previously
‘complete’ Bach organ editions, and
for a while such collections had to
be appended with Werner Jacob’s serviceable
EMI double LP recording from that same
year. This new Danacord disc contains
24 of the 38 Neumeister chorales, with
the remaining works covered elsewhere
in the set.

I must admit to re-living
my teenage years with this disc, bathing
in utterly gorgeous organ sounds and
beautiful playing. Tillmanns’ style
is less urgent - some might say strident
- than Peter Hurford, but is rhythmically
sound and tastefully and transparently
registered. His timings are actually
quite similar to Werner Jacob’s, while
Hurford regularly shaves great chunks
from each piece by comparison, all the
while seeming perfectly natural. The
contrast in instruments makes a difference
here of course, but it is only when
you compare two such readings head to
head that differences in interpretation
become more glaringly apparent. Take
BWV 1108, Als Jesus Christus in der
Nacht. Hurford is swift, almost
conspiratorial, the flowing notes babbling
like an intimate, almost whispered conversation.
Tillmanns is more four-square, the reed
stops initially dominating, and developing
quite a grand head of steam in that
wonderful progression in the pedals
towards the end of the second section.
In the following number, BWV 1109, O
Herre Gott, tu dich erbarmen Tillmanns
wins with the weightier sound of the
Weyland organ, leaving Hurford in his
wake on the arguably more authentic
instrument in the Viennese Augustinerkirche.
It is of course swings and roundabouts.
While Tillmanns’ phrasing can be a little
heavy at times I have no real quibbles
with either interpretation, but it just
goes to show that, with Bach, there
are so many wonderful ways to skin a
cat.

There are absolutely
no reservations about dividing this
repertoire between two different instruments
on one disc. The recordings are evenly
matched and there are no problems with
tuning or vast switches in acoustic.
Hans Helmut Tillmanns is a reliable
performer, but there are one or two
unfortunate and very minor blemishes
(a strange extra flicked note at the
end of BWV 1097 for instance) which
a final ounce of effort in the production
would no doubt have solved. As other
commentators have pointed out, someone
really should get a native English speaker
to brush up the booklet notes. This
superbly recorded Bach set will however
be hard to beat once completed. Top
job.

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